Commuters on Delhi Metro’s Jahangirpuri — HUDA City Centre line had a nightmarish experience on Tuesday morning when a train got stuck in a tunnel during rush hour.
As many as 2,000 hapless commuters who were aboard the eight-coach train at that time were stuck inside the tunnel for two hours.The harrowing incident took place between Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhavan Metro stations when the train came to an abrupt halt due to a technical snag.
While the passengers aboard the train were in a state of panic, thousands of others waiting on various Metro stations on the line were stranded for hours. According to the commuters, it was dark and suffocating inside the train and after waiting in vain for 26 minutes for the Delhi Metro staff to evacuate them, they opened the rear exit door on their own and started walking on the tracks behind the train.
Several passengers even risked their lives by walking on the opposite tracks, where they were in danger of being hit by a train coming from that direction. According to Delhi Metro, the disruption occurred at around 9.24 am when a train moving from Central Secretariat towards Udyog Bhawan developed a fault and was stranded between these two stations.
"Around 9.50 am passengers from the stranded train push opened the emergency door of the train on their own and came on to the tracks without authorization. Some passengers also entered the adjacent track which was meant for the movement of trains travelling from Huda City Centre towards Jahangirpuri.
"The DMRC ordered stoppage of trains on this track also as a precautionary measure before starting the rescue operation," said a DMRC spokesperson.The Metro's operational staff decided to abandon the plan to use the rescue train to push the stranded train to the next station since this would have endangered the lives of the people walking on the tracks.
"Between 9.50 am to 10.45 am, a total of about 1,791 passengers were evacuated from the stranded train and track clearance was given. Preliminary investigation by the engineers revealed that an emergency brake was being pulled automatically which resulted in the train stopping. A high level enquiry committee has been formed to find out why the train developed a technical snag. The train was taken to a nearby depot for repair and maintenance," said DMRC officials.
Technical experts said that the snag might have occurred due to brake binding."It might be that due to brake failure, the wheels could not move. Brake binding means that the brakes of the train often get stuck due to poor maintenance and do not get released. As a result of the abrasion between the wheels and the brake, the car cannot move and that produces sparks and smoke, resulting in the stalling of the train," the experts said.
They said brake failure in trains is the most common cause of technical snag. It might be that due to automatic functioning, an emergency brake was applied and as it could not be released it brought the train to an abrupt halt.
Recalling her horrifying experience, leela Biswas, a passenger who was headed to her Udyog Bhavan office when the mishap occurred, said: "The first glitch occurred at Vishwavidyalaya station where it stopped for 20 minutes. Initially, we thought it was one of the halts that everyday metro-users encounter. These are never too long though. After 25 minutes, it was announced that the metro was running late because of a technical problem. later, at the Central Secretariat Station it stopped for nearly 45 minutes. As it was so dark and suffocating inside the train, I had to get down and walk down the entire stretch for 25 minutes. It was a frightening experience as I was risking my life."
Panicked, passengers made calls to their offices and their families informing them of the incident.
However, it was not just the passengers in the ill-fated train who were suffering; commuters waiting at the stations also had a bad time as the trains were late. There were huge crowds outside Udyog Bhavan, Rajiv Chowk, Patel Chowk, Central Secretariat, New Delhi, Chandni Chowk and Kashmere Gate metro stations among others.
As the rush of passengers increased, two short loop services were started from Green Park to Huda City Centre and Central Secretariat to Jahangirpuri. In order to clear the rush at Rajiv Chowk and Kashmere Gate Metro Stations, two empty trains were sent from Vishwavidyalaya to these stations at 11.00 am.
DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh has appointed a three-member enquiry committee consisting of Executive Director (Safety), Executive Director (Rolling Stock) and General Manager (Operations) of DMRC to enquire into the causes of the snag.